WHAT is it like to wake up one morning and be told you are now Miss Great Britain?

Fantastic? Amazing? Yes, but also rather sad.

At least, that’s how it feels to Deone Robertson, the dancer/model from Cumbernauld who was handed the title in the most unusual of circumstances.

Deone, who was runner-up in the 2015/16 competition, was handed the title after the current Miss Great Britain was stripped of her title.

Read more: Cumbernauld model Deone Robertson crowned Miss GB after Love Island contestant is stripped of title

Zara Holland had taken part in ITV reality show Love Island, and during the run of the show had taken part in ‘grown up cuddles’.

As a result, Deone is now the official sash-wearer for the competition.

“I’m still in shock,” says the brunette over coffee in Glasgow. “It’s not quite real. And it’s brought about mixed feelings. I feel for Zara. She worked hard for her title and to lose it in this way isn’t great.

“But at the same time, I know she will be okay. And she will go on to do other things.”

Deone hasn’t yet spoken to Zara. “She came off Love Island with her mum being poorly and I hope to talk to her as soon as I can.”

The Scot however isn’t about to made moral judgements of Zara’s behaviour.

“I’m guessing it was all a mistake in the heat of the moment. It’s all the madness you can get caught up on. You’re in a beautiful villa and the sun is shining.

Read more: Cumbernauld model Deone Robertson crowned Miss GB after Love Island contestant is stripped of title

“And there’s a pressure. If you don’t have a partner you get dumped from the island.

“Plus, there’s the prize money if you make it to the end. I can see how she came to be caught out.”

But if you’re going to go on national television and have ‘grown up cuddles’ there are consequences.

Dione adds, “They’ve all been doing it on Love Island. And she was there for three weeks. She fell for the guy. So it’s not as if she has done something that wrong.

“It’s just that she’s gone against the rules. You sign up to the terms and conditions and all the warnings in place.

“But Zara wasn’t that type of girl, so she wouldn’t have imagined doing something like that.”

Deone wouldn’t have gone on Love Island in the first place.

“It would be too intimate for me,” she says, smiling. “The cameras would see your every move.

Read more: Cumbernauld model Deone Robertson crowned Miss GB after Love Island contestant is stripped of title

Dione’s beauty pageant career began with Miss Scotland in 2010 (she reached the top five)

“I just loved everything about it and I went on to other contests such as Miss Galaxy Scotland which I won, taking me to America."

She doesn’t apologise for the pageants.

“They have changed over the years. The girls are now doctors, (eg Miss England) and they are full of lawyers and performing arts people, the entire range of women.

“And the whole notion of feminism has changed. The pageants are about being the best you can be. What’s wrong with that?”

Deone has in fact kick started her own pageant, Royale Pageants UK, which runs in Glasgow at the end of July.

“The idea is to change people’s perceptions of the beauty contest idea,” she explains. “In this pageant you can enter up to the age of 35. I want to remove the age barrier, to show it doesn’t matter if you’re 21 or 31.

“It’s not just about dressing up, the girls will enjoy a mind coach, there will be pageant coaching, and the money raised will go to charity.”

Deone adds; “The pageant will be fronted by Jennifer Reoch, a former Miss Scotland, who now presents on STV. Jennifer has a degree and is a great role model.”

Deone has three months of the Miss Great Britain reign left.

“It’s up to me how I use the platform but it’s always been a dream to win a title, so I’ll go with it. Zara won it, and she deserved to, but now I get to step up.

“It’s like being in a theatre and being an understudy. Your chance comes along and you have to take it.”

Deone, who once considered becoming a physics teacher, is also a professional dancer who has worked at the Pavilion Theatre for the past seven years year.

This Christmas she will be back there, appearing in Elfie’s Magical Adventure.

Deone’s dancing with the likes of the Scottish Rockettes has taken her all over the world, “I’ve been very lucky, I’ve travelled in Asia, Morocco, and I’ve worked in Switzerland, which was so beautiful it looks as though someone had painted a backdrop.

“I worked on a beach volleyball competition there.”

But Switzerland doesn’t have a coastline?

“That’s true,” she says, grinning. “The Swiss created a beach. The sand was imported for the tournament.”

Deone, now 27, could have worked abroad more.

“My little sister was ill a few years ago and had open heart surgery and she was one of the reasons I wanted to stay in Scotland. I wanted to take the short term contracts.”

Read more: Cumbernauld model Deone Robertson crowned Miss GB after Love Island contestant is stripped of title

One of the highlights of her dance career however has been appearing in Still Game show at the Hydro, in front of 12,000 people each night.

However, nothing beats the magic of Christmas, and panto.

“To be up on stage and seeing the kids get such a thrill is amazing,” she says, in excited voice.

“And if I ever stop having that feeling that I shouldn’t be on stage.”

Elfie’s Magical Adventure, the Pavilion Theatre, begins November 24.

Miss Royale United Kingdon, The Westerwood Hotel, July 31.